Four Japanese companies have decided to proceed with the deepwater FPSO charter project for the Petrobras-operated Búzios pre-salt oil field located offshore Brazil.
According to their joint statement on Tuesday, MODEC, Mitsui & Co., Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL), and Marubeni Corporation have agreed that Mitsui, MOL, and Marubeni will invest in a long-term charter business currently promoted by MODEC for the purpose of providing a floating production, storage, and offloading system (FPSO) for use on the Búzios field off the coast of Brazil.
It is worth reminding that MODEC received a letter of intent for the supply, charter, and operation of the FPSO vessel for Petrobras for Búzios 5 field in June 2019.
The four companies have entered into related agreements on November 12, 2019. Based on these agreements, Mitsui, MOL, and Marubeni will invest in Buzios5 MV32 B.V. (MV32), a Dutch company established by MODEC, and the companies will proceed with the project jointly.
MV32 has entered into a long-term charter agreement for the deployment of the FPSO with Petrobras. The FPSO will be chartered for 21 years under this charter agreement, which was signed on September 24, 2019.
The FPSO will be named FPSO Almirante Barroso MV32 and will be deployed at the Búzios field located in the giant “pre-salt” region of the Santos Basin. The field is located approximately 180 kilometers from Rio de Janeiro, on the southeast coast of Brazil. The FPSO will be moored in 1,900 meters of water depth, in the year 2022.
The project is the seventh occasion under which the companies have collaborated to operate FPSOs in Brazil.
The FPSO will have an oil processing capacity of 150,000 barrels per day and gas processing capacity of 212 million cubic feet per day. The vessel’s oil storage capacity will be 1,400,000 barrels.
Búzios is one of the offshore oil and gas fields in Brazil which forms part of the Transfer of Rights agreement signed in 2010. The field is 100% operated by Petrobras and is situated 180 kilometers off the coast of Rio de Janeiro, in the giant “pre-salt” region of the Santos Basin, Brazil, at a water depth approximately 1,900 meters.